By Goya Dmytryshchak
Images of six women who have been subjected to violence will be displayed around Hobsons Bay as part of a global campaign.
The portraits are from the Silent Tears installation created by world-renowned photographer Belinda Mason in collaboration with emerging artists with disabilities.
The images, part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign, tell the stories of six women. Some have a disability and were subjected to violence, while others acquired a disability as a result of violence.
One of the women featured is Anj, who at 16 was bashed nearly to death by an ex-boyfriend in the school ground.
She suffered a brain injury and spent three years in hospital, rehabilitation and a nursing home before returning home under full-time care.
Anj now works to empower others by speaking out against violence and advocating respectful relationships.
The council this week pasted the six portraits, with accompanying stories, at two prominent locations – the corner of Ferguson Street and Wellington Parade in Williamstown and the corner of Pier and Blyth streets in Altona.
Hobsons Bay mayor Jonathon Marsden said the campaign aimed to get people talking about factors that contributed to violence against women and what could be done to stop it.
“The #MeToo campaign has shone a spotlight on the prevalence of sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence,” he said.
“This year’s [campaign] theme, ‘Leave no one behind – end violence against women’, focuses on women who are particularly vulnerable.”
The campaign, which runs until December 10, also involves the Women’s Health West-led Preventing Violence Together partnership and action plan.
